


Adrichat Hell

by Keyseeker



Series: Adrichat [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrichat, But DAMN is it fun to write, Crack, Fantasy AU, Just a lot of different AUs really, Like seriously don't expect this to be serious in the slightest, Lukaler, M/M, Ok never mind has some slight seriousness and plot running in the background, Oooph made a left turn into angst, Selfcest, Set Post-Chat Blanc, So the last chapter became a cyclone of crack and memes, Tangled AU, complete with, this is just for fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 14,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27331531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keyseeker/pseuds/Keyseeker
Summary: So I saw that this was Adrichat November and decided to just unwind and write some ridiculous stories with my favorite Crack ship!--------Adrien writes Adrichat fanfics
Relationships: Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir
Series: Adrichat [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024771
Comments: 81
Kudos: 96
Collections: Adrichat November 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 1 - Fencing

Adrien drunk a glass of water.

He’d had a long day fighting through the fencing tournament, opponent after opponent aiming to prove their worth, but none lasted long against him.

(He missed Kagami; normally she’d blow through this sort of tournament and it was usually a toss-up which of them would win, but she was off visiting relatives in Japan.)

At last, the final challenger stepped into the stadium.

He blinked. Were those cat ears even regulation? And that long tail-like belt seemed like a tripping hazard.

And then he caught sight of the bell.

Oh, that BELL-

He would ring that bell if it was the last thing he ever did!

The challenger lunged. Adrien barely had a moment to respond before the buzzer sounded, signaling his opponent had scored a point. 

It was ON.

Again and again though, his opponent was just a little quicker, a little more agile, a little more determined.

The final round was upon them. At this point Adrien had no illusions he might win.

But he could have his REVENGE.

His opponent lunged forward one last time, as did he.

The opponent got the point.

But Adrien got the bell.

The crowd gasped silently as the challengers fencing gear melted away, revealing a black leather-clad boy, still with his cat ears and tail, but his face now visible… mostly. A small black mask still concealed part of his face, promising mysteries underneath, but his eyes were unobstructed.

His green, slitted, catlike eyes.

Adrien blushed.

The cat boy approached, waving his tail from side to side.

“I’ve competed in many fencing tournaments in the past year, ever since the witch cursed me to wander the earth until my One True Love freed me from my bell in battle,” his melodious voice said, his eyes twinkling like fireflies. “But I never expected such a fight, or such a handsome face as yours.”

Adrien’s tongue felt thick in his mouth, but at last he swallowed. “May I have the pleasure of knowing what name belongs to as divine a being as yourself?” He managed at last.

“My name is Chat Noir,”, he said, stepping forwards until his chest was nearly flush with Adrien’s, “but you can call me ‘Yours’.”

Embracing Chat Noir in a passionate kiss, he couldn’t help but think  _ ‘Well. There’s no way on EARTH Kagami will ever believe me about what happened while she was gone.’ _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2 - Touch

Adrien shivered in Chat Noir’s strong, supple arms.

It was hardly the first time he’d been caught up in an akuma attack, but Chat Noir raced over just as quick every time.

He liked to think… no, it was ridiculous, he was just a plain, ordinary, devastatingly handsome and academically gifted model, what could the roguishly charming Chat Noir ever see in him?

No, surely he was imagining things. Chat’s ruddy complexion whenever he cradled Adrien in his arms must be due to the physical exertion of carrying him, not a blush at the thought of having Adrien’s body so tantalizingly close to his own.

But oh, how he’d enjoy these brief glimpses of what he would surely never have, Chat’s heartbeat drumming a rhythm of happiness through his soul, his leather-clad claws oh-so-gently, oh-so-delicately holding him, being careful not to scratch his skin - though he may not have minded the reminder of this encounter, proof that this was not a dream.

Chat moved downwards, placing Adrien on the cold, hard, unfeeling ground. “You’ll be safe here,” Chat told him before turning around.

NO!

Chat looked back, startled.

Adrien blinked, only just now realizing he had spoken aloud. His hand was wrapped around Chat’s wrist.

He swallowed. “D-don’t go,” he choked out. “I need you. I love you. My skin aches for your presence, my blood burns with desire. I know you probably do not love me, do not care, but I wanted you to know that I am yours, heart and soul.”

Chat Noir knelt down, cupping Adrien’s chin in his hand. “Oh Adrien,” he purred. “It is I who was afraid. Your beauty and kindness are legendary, your smile puts the sun to shame, your puns make even the rocks and trees break apart laughing, clapping, celebrating your brilliance. What could I, a creature of the night, of secrecy, of stolen moments and whispers in the shadows hope to offer one such as you?”

Adrien gasped. “‘Tis your stealth and shadows that adds to your charm! The darkness caresses, embraces you, but does not take hold. If my smile is like the sun, then yours is like the calming moon. And as the sun loves the moon, so do I too love you.”

Chat Noir leaned over him, tipping Adrien’s head back so as to reach his lips more easily.

Adrien let him, entranced by the suave superhero’s intense gaze, completely lost in the emerald jungle of his eyes.

Until a sharp pain brought him back to reality.

“Ow!”

Chat recoiled. “I’m sorry, I’m SO sorry! I wasn’t thinking about the placement of my canines, you must hate me now, this was a bad idea, oh no I can never see you again but then who would protect you from akumas?!”

Chat looked like he was having a panic attack.

Adrien decided to solve this by kissing every bit of Chat he could reach.

Hey just because he got hurt kissing his mouth didn’t mean kissing was out the question entirely!

Chat’s eyes became half-lidded as he slowly collapsed on the ground, a furry quivering blob of pleasure.

Ladybug found them together an hour later, so wrapped up in each other it looked like they’d played a game of Twister while competing to see who was most flexible.

She stared for a minute, then shook her head. “Note to self: make sure to be the one to carry Adrien away from akumas.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 3 - Mirror

Adrien studied himself, leaning in close enough that his breath misted on the mirror.

He frowned. “Hey Plagg, would you say my eyes look more like fresh grass on a spring day or like new-grown moss that’s just tasted the kiss of the sun?”

Plagg rolled his eyes, not looking up from his cheese bread. “Why would you want to compare your eyes to gross stuff like that? Now green cheeses, THAT’S romantic. Irish Green Wax Cheddar? Sage Derby? THOSE are worth swooning over. Moss and grass taste awful!”

“...I’m not going to ask how you know that.”

Adrien sighed. “I encouraged this whole Adrichat bonanza, I need to be able to write stories for it good enough to stack up to what the rest of Paris will churn out!”

Technically it’d been several months since the… incident, but it only felt like a couple of weeks.

The whole city had been sent reeling by the events.

No one moreso than himself.

At least no one blamed him. He was pretty sure Ladybug would’ve had their head if they did. (She’d been extremely protective lately, but not like Gabriel had been. Not that he’d truly been protective at all - he’d proven THAT well enough.)

But the pitying looks weren’t great either, even if they were better than the scorn and vitriol he’d initially feared arising.

So when a random person on social media suggested that maybe Chat Noir could provide Adrien with the romantic healing he needed, he’d jumped on it.

Initially the user had been berated for being highly insensitive - not least because Adrien very publicly had a girlfriend he was head-over-heels for - but after he’d reached out to them and told them and the rest of the world that he was on board, the whole city had jumped on the chance to have a little fun, and to show their support by doing something that made everyone feel better, and just to take their minds off of what had happened.

Probably not what his therapist had MEANT when she’d assigned him the homework of practicing more self-love, but hey, if it worked, it worked.

Slowly he began to type.

_ How the HELL had every single flower shop in Paris run out of red roses?! _


	4. Chapter 4

How the HELL had every single flower shop in Paris run out of red roses?! He’d even settle for white, but noooooo, those were taken too!

If he wanted to just tell Adrien what a great friend he was, how much he looked up to and admired him, he could do that - yellow and pink roses abounded.

But his love, his passion, for Adrien was not platonic - not in the slightest.

Since he’d first caught sight of the sunlight wafting through the soft strands of sunshine’s hair, since he’d heard his pitch-perfect tones reverberate through the air and into his heart, he lived only to let Adrien know how much, how deeply he loved him, that he was Adrien’s, and hoping, praying, that Adrien would be his in turn.

His eyes roved over the shops, hoping to find something, ANYTHING, to help.

They landed on a craft shop.

His eyes lit up.

That would work.

* * *

  
  


Bringing his handcrafted red rose with him, he set out for Adrien’s meeting place. 

He’d specified that he should come to a certain rooftop. He wasn’t sure how Adrien was planning to get up there, but after watching him climb up the rock wall in his room like a gecko, he wasn’t going to doubt him.

A sea of red caught his eye.

Looking closer, he gasped.

Adrien sat in the middle of a cacophony of roses, so many roses that they spilled out from the edges of the balcony, threatening to drown passersby in the representation of Adrien’s love for him. Fans were set up above Adrien, showering him with buckets of white rose petals so that they gently floated down like blessings, showing what an angelic, stunning figure he was.

And Chat Noir WAS stunned.

He forgot how to breathe.

Or change his trajectory.

The last thing he saw before being buried underneath an avalanche of flowers was Adrien’s shocked face.

“CHAT NOIR ARE YOU OKAY I’M SO SORRY!”

Chat just gave a groan and a thumb’s up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 6 - Stars
> 
> And in case you're wondering what happened to Day 5, I decided to publish the chapter I initially wrote for that separately, since it kinda became its own story and I didn't want it to get buried in the rest of the fic. Please check it out!
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/27406825

Adrien looked down on the Earth every night, as stars were want to do. 

He’d seen many things over time, from the rise of empires, to the fall of civilizations, to the more mundane, like kittens sitting on their owner’s faces, or alligators attacking people.

(He winced at that last one. Alligators were bad enough at the best of times, but being attacked in the middle of the night when it was too dark for humans to see where they were going? He tried to provide all the illumination he could, but he was just one little star! That was the moon’s job!)

None of it entranced him as much as Chat Noir did.

That’s what he called him, at least. The small black cat, creeping through the night.

Normally he’d have barely been able to see him, as dark as he was. Would never have known he was there but for the barely persceptible glint of light in his eyes, a reflection of his and his brethren’s work illuminating the heavens.

Yet Chat had made sure that wouldn’t happen.

Every night the sky was clear, every night Adrien’s view was unobstructed, Chat Noir climbed to the highest point he could find and sang to the heavens, eyes locked on Adrien’s star.

At least until people started yelling at him to quit his caterwauling and yelling for the infernal cat to SHUT UP, which Adrien thought was very rude. Chat Noir’s voice was delightful.

Everyone was a critic.

But night after night, Chat Noir persisted, despite the tribulations he was put through. He even went the extra mile sometimes to make sure Adrien could see him, catching fireflies, holding onto them as if offering Adrien up a star of his own. Finding glow-in-the-dark paint… somewhere (Adrien reaaaaally hoped it was nontoxic) and rolling in it, becoming the brightest thing in the area.

One time he even found a burning stick and waved it through the night, the fire dancing in his eyes.

(...Okay Adrien was seriously concerned about that one.)

Adrien yearned to speak to him, to let him know he saw him, heard his voice.

Bit by bit he drifted closer, straining against the yoke of the heavens, until at last, after months of trying, he broke free. 

Sailing down to Earth as a shooting star, he smiled.

At last, he could get to know the one who’d gone to such lengths to capture his attention.

Settling down gently on the ground, he alighted at the black cat’s paws.

“I heard your beautiful singing, your calls every night,” he told the cat, as he jumped onto Adrien’s shoulders. “I couldn’t resist; I had to see you.”

Chat Noir purred, licking Adrien delicately on his nose -

And then turned into a man.

Adrien blinked.

Well.

This was unexpected.

“Long ago, I was cursed to forever remain a cat until I’d tasted true love,” the man told him.

Belatedly Adrien noticed how he’d retained the cat ears, the long, furry tail, the green slitted eyes of the cat he used to be - though now he wore the most suave, most awesome-looking black leather suit in existence.

Adrien’s breath caught.

_ Oh no. He’s hot. _

Chat Noir continued talking, Adrien nodding dumbly. He wanted to listen and pay attention, he really did but… hot cat man looking at him like he was the most precious, desirable thing in the world to him was making his brain dance the can-can while simultaneously flipping pancakes and singing Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

Midway through the explanation he blurted out, “Do you want to get coffee?”

Chat Noir blinked. “Sure, but don’t you want to hear the rest first?”

Adrien blushed. “Uh… could you repeat it? I kinda got distracted…”

Chat Noir laughed. It was the most beautiful sound Adrien had ever heard (though Chat’s singing was still really close). “Sure, I know a place.”

Together they walked off into the night to get to know one another better (as soon as Adrien could get ahold of his brain again).


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 7 - Akuma

The butterflies seemed to be enjoying Marinette’s rooftop garden.

Probably helped that they had sunlight, open air, freedom - all things that were lacking while they were cooped up in his father’s underground lair.

Sighing, he laid down on the lawnchair, stretching out in the sun like the catboy he was.

He still wasn’t entirely sure how much this was helping, writing all these weird self-shipping fics. They were fun at least, taking his mind off of… other things.

( _ Hawkmoth’s smirk, suddenly oh-so-familiar. Asking a question, pleadingly, only to get an answer in the form of a caning. _

_ Waking up surrounded by water and broken buildings, until a swarm of ladybugs fixed everything, As Always. _ )

He and Ladybug had taken Hawkmoth down fairly quickly after that. The Reveal had left them more in-sync than other, finally understanding one another completely - or as completely as was possible at least. 

And Hawkmoth had been off-center.

Shocked.

Not seeming to believe that Adrien would have the AUDACITY to continue fighting against him, even after being akumatized. Trying, STILL, to tell him what an awful son he was for not helping him in his plans, that he was dooming his mother to stay in her comatose state forever, that clearly he did not love her, nor him, that Ladybug was just using Adrien for her own ends.

He hadn’t realized before how much his father projected his own faults onto others.

Hawkmoth’s defeat should have been something to celebrate.

A triumph, both for him and Ladybug, and for the city.

Instead his life, his idea of reality, came crumbling down.

( _ Clutching Ladybug, and just crying. Not caring who saw. What they heard. _

_ It didn’t matter anyway. Gabriel had not been subtle about Chat’s identity. _ )

It took awhile for him to be able to think.

To breathe.

Marinette’s family took him in immediately. He as pretty sure that TECHNICALLY, he wasn’t supposed to stay with them, that he was supposed to go live with Amelie or another relative, maybe even stay with someone the government assigned.

But no one wanted to try and tell Chat Noir what to do.

Nor did Paris want him to leave.

He’d been pretty despondent, trying to put on a smile, but… well…

Marinette knew him too well to be fooled anymore.

And then he saw the footage.

( _ White, white as snow. Ice-blue eyes, as if his father had tried to freeze Adrien’s emotions, make him into an empty vessel for his scheme. _

_ It had failed. _

_ Though sometimes, when he’d been up for too long, when he had too much time to think, it seemed like maybe it had succeeded after all. _

_ Why else would he feel so numb? _ )

He’d curled in on himself at that point. He may not remember it, but… Marinette did.

And he had destroyed the world.

Marinette had told him it wasn’t his fault, over and over and over again.

But that didn’t stop it from going through his head.

News reporters had generally left him alone at least. Marinette made sure of it, along with her parents. Alec still remembered what’d happened when he’d invaded Marinette’s privacy apparently. 

Or if he hadn’t, Sabine had reminded him.

His and Ladybug’s interviews with Alya sufficed for the media. 

A butterfly fluttered near him, brushing close to his neck.

He reared backwards, knocking the chair over, falling back.

_ It’s not an akuma it’s not an akuma IT’S NOT AN AKUMA _

His heart hammering, he tried to catch his breath.

Maybe he should try to get more ideas for his next story inside.

He may have come out for some sunshine, to think about how else he and Chat Noir (or he and Adrien? With self-ships it was confusing) could get together.

The last thing he needed was to get trapped in his own mind again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 8 - Sunshine

One day a baby was born; Prince Adrien.

His eyes smoldered, his hair bright as sunshine, truly he brought light to all who saw him.

That wasn’t a metaphor. His hair and eyes were literally on fire.

Not ALL the time, thankfully - that would have made things… difficult, when needing to be taken care of, but more and more often as he grew older, as his power grew out of control. 

Made it difficult for him to get close to people, with them not being able to look at him directly for very long without going blind. 

Many, many miles away, another Prince was born.

This one was covered with an aura of mystery, of darkness, of the light footfalls of a cat and the grace of the moon.

Some of those WERE metaphors, but he DID actually have an aura of darkness cloud around him that made him difficult to see, except for his reflective eyes that almost seemed to glow when the light hit.

He also had cat ears and a cat tail, but few people knew about those, being unable to see them most of the time.

These two princes grew up as best they could, causing mischief but trying not to cause much beyond that (which was more difficult for Adrien. Fire was like that.)

Until the day all of the young princes and princesses in the area were set to meet for a ball.

Adrien wore his best fineries, which included a lot of heat and flame resistant materials. He’d learned those were the best things to wear the hard way.

(At least that seamstress, Marinette, hadn’t been too put out by some of her hard work going up in flames. He’d become very attached to her since then. She was a very good friend.)

He’d expected to be the odd one out at the ball - hard to dance when your partner couldn’t handle the heat.

Except he wasn’t the only one people had to keep their distance from.

His eyes lit on the cloud of darkness raiding the buffet table.

And lit the cloud of darkness itself.

Revealing a suave young gentleman with soft cat ears, a leather suit, and a mischievous grin.

Adrien’s heart stuttered.

Chat Noir looked around, seeming as shocked as he was by the new developments-

And just as entranced by the stranger’s eyes.

In a daze, they approached each other, until-

Their hands intertwined.

The fire and light in Adrien met the darkness and calm of Chat Noir, merging, mixing, fusing in a maelstrom-

Until it faded to reveal the both of them, their powers properly under control for the first time in their lives.

On their own, each was unbalanced.

But together?

Together their true power was revealed.

Also their true appearances. The Royal Artists for both their households were pretty thrilled at FINALLY being able to get a good look at their subjects.

They could never get Chat Noir to wear anything other than black leather though, to their consternation.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 9 - Gabriel Agreste

Adrien stared at the prompt.

His father? Seriously?

But… hm.

Maybe… maybe it could be good?

He hadn’t spoken to his father since his arrest.

Since he last saw him, glaring at Adrien and saying the worst, most hurtful things he could.

At least he hadn’t had his cane on him at that point.

Hadn’t had an akuma waiting in the wings.

No; his father just wanted to hurt him for the sake of hurting him.

Adrien shuddered. This line of thought wasn’t going anywhere.

Maybe… maybe dealing with him in a story would be easier. Better.

Slowly, he began to type.

* * *

  
  


He would  _ skin _ that cat if he came anywhere near his son again!

Oh, Adrien had denied it time and time again, but he’d seen Chat Noir coming and going from Adrien’s bedroom window repeatedly. He knew the truth.

Yet every time he opened the door, it was JUST Adrien there.

What, was he hiding in the vents?!

Hmm…

After retrieving a ladder and checking them, he concluded that no, he probably wasn’t, they were too small.

Plus they were COVERED in dust.

Like SO much dust.

Were the vents even WORKING, considering the amount of dust in them?!

Continuing to sneeze as he had for the last several minutes, he reconsidered his options.

Ok, so where else could he hide?

The cabinets?

He opened one.

And got hit with a noseful of the worst stench he’d ever smelled.

If Chat Noir could survive THAT, he deserved to get to be with his son. 

*vrrrrrrr*

Thinking quickly, he dived underneath Adrien’s bed.

BLECH. More dustbunnies.

That’s it, the world was conspiring against him.

Footsteps.

The trademark sound of Chat’s staff retracting.

And two sets of shoes in his field of vision: One black, one orange.

“Oh Chat Noir,” he heard his son exclaim, “you must hurry and leave, for my father might find you here, and who KNOWS what might happen then?”

“But my little angel,” Chat Noir purred back, (Gabriel held in a shudder), “how will I survive the long hours without your presence, the light you bring to my life?”

The shoes moved closer, until they were practically on top of each other. “It is I who will suffer more!” his son exclaimed. “Without your purrs, your air of mystery, your suave and sophisticated demeanour, yet all while retaining the most high-quality pun collection in Paris, how will I live?”

“Oh, Adrien…”

“Oh, Chat Noir…”

**_NOPE._ **

Emerging from underneath the bed like a rubber toy that was stretched too dar, snapping back into place, he pointed a finger at Chat Noir, the INTRUDER. “HANDS OFF MY SON YOU MISCREANT!”

Gasping dramatically, Chat Noir flung himself in front of Adrien. “But I love him! He’s the sun to my moon, the light to my shadow, I’ll wither and die without him!”

“And I as well!” Adrien flung himself in front of Chat (and nearly into his father). “Father I will keel over without him! WIthout his charming voice, his bravery, his wit-!”

Ugh.

_ Teenagers. _

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Gabriel SIGHED. “Just… just keep it down.”

He was NOT up to dealing with this.

* * *

  
  


Chat grinned as his father closed the door.

“Trixx, let’s rest” he whispered.

Trixx came spiraling out of his necklace, the fake Adrien disappearing with him.

“I have the feeling that’ll keep him from spying too closely again,” Chat smirked.


	9. Chapter 9

“Looking purrty good, Adrien.”

Adrien pointed some finger guns at Chat Noir. “Not as pawsome as mew, Chat Noir.”

Chat Noir sidled up to him, leaning in close, smirking. “Mew will furever be on my mind; your clawver turns of furase, your cathletic build; truly, mew are a furmidable opponent.

“Purrhaps I’m just furtunate enough to know such a hissterical rival,” Adrien said, leaning forward as well so their noses almost touched, their faces separated by whisker lengths.

Which was when Ladybug walked into the room.

They both turned to her sheepishly, Adrien fumbling with the peacock brooch.

After looking back and forth between the two of them for a moment, she let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “You gotta be _kitten_ me.”


	10. Chapter 10

Adrien sucked in a breath.

Rain.

Like the day he and Marinette became friends.

Like the day Marinette broke up with him.

The day she found out his identity.

The day his father found out as well.

Adrien shook his head, trying to clear those images, those thoughts from his mind. To not get bogged down in them again. 

The thoughts did not oblige.

He slowly exhaled. If he couldn’t get rid of those thoughts, those memories… maybe he could use them instead?

* * *

  
  


The rain beat down, drops of water sliding down Chat’s face.

He didn’t notice.

His face was too wet from tears already.

“I- I’m sorry Chat, it’s just… I… we’re… we’re not meant to be together,” Adrien choked out. 

He- he couldn’t… they’d had such good times together! Eating ice cream, laughing as they licked off any stray bit of whipped cream that had gotten on the other’s nose; Dancing in the moonlight on the rooftops of Paris; re-enacting that iconic scene in Titanic with Jack helping Rose fly, if only in her mind.

How could it all be over?

And Adrien… he didn’t look like he wanted this either.

Wait… maybe…

He wrenched himself from Adrien’s tear-stricken face for a moment, scanning the area.

There!

Nathalie’s watchful eyes, spying on them.

But why would she be crouching in the bushes unless…

Quietly, trying to move his lips as little as possible, he whispered, “Did your father coerce you into this?”

Adrien’s face crumbled.

Chat Noir’s jaw clenched, before he forced himself to relax.

“I guess you’re right,” he said loudly, forcing himself not to look towards Nathalie’s position. “Sadly this is the last we’ll ever see each other, separated forevermore.”

Adrien’s brow furrowed. “Yes, I guess you’re right,” he said out loud.

The look he shot Chat said something very different.  _ What are you planning? _

He flashed a grin back.  _ Oh, you’ll see. _

* * *

  
  


A few hours later he snuck into Agreste Manor.

“You’ll see, Adrien, really, this was the BEST for you,” a slimy voice said, dripping with condescension. “That mangy cat was hurting my brand, inspiring you to rebel, being a  _ bad influence _ .”

Peeking around the corner, he saw Gabriel put his hand on Adrien’s shoulder.

Adrien shuddered, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there. “You belong with me. I’m glad you saw it my way; that you didn’t force me to destroy his life in order to protect you from him. Now we can be a family again, like we were always meant to be.”

Adrien’s eyes hollowed out as he stared at his father in disbelief.

NO.

HE WAS NOT LETTING ADRIEN STAY WITH THAT MONSTER ANY LONGER.

“Family doesn’t DO this,” he called out, emerging from the curtains. 

Gabriel’s head whipped upwards, his glasses flying off to the other side of the room. He hissed. “What are you doing here, you  _ miscreant _ ? I won’t let you harm Adrien any further!”

Chat glared at him. “Funny. From where I’m standing, YOU’RE the one hurting him.” Holding up his baton, he pressed “play”. Gabriel’s voice played back. 

“I just sent this recording to all the press outlets I could reach,” Chat continued. “Let THEM decide what’s TRULY bad for your brand.

Gabriel hissed and lunged.

Chat just laughed, pole-vaulting over him, grabbing Adrien in one arm as they fled the mansion.

“Where are we going?” Adrien asked.

Chat smiled. “Home.”


	11. Chapter 11

Adrien fought against the chains.

“Obey,” the voices whispered, getting louder and louder. “You are my son. And good sons do what their fathers tell them too.”

“GOOD FATHERS DON’T TELL THEIR SONS TO HURT PEOPLE!” Adrien screamed.

It did no good. It wasn’t like Father could hear him.

No one could hear him.

The walls kept closing in, faster and faster.

But the worst part?

The worst part was the videos.

His father yelling at Nino just for pleading for Adrien to be allowed a birthday party… and subsequently using his anger and bitterness at Adrien’s mistreatment to akumatize him, not that they knew that at the time.

Telling Adrien to go to his room after he asked his father to take precautions, to keep safe, saying that he was too emotional.

Waiting until the very last second to force Gorizilla to let Ladybug go, to rescue him from death.

Forcing him to cancel on his friends, either because he said he’d have dinner with him and never showed, or because he was unsatisfied with his musical performance, citing his friends as a ‘bad influence’.

Adrien barked out a laugh. If HAWKMOTH considered his friends to be a ‘bad influence’, well - he’d wear that as a badge of honor.

Gabriel enforcing his will on him, time and time again, belittling him, tearing him down, trying to make him into a perfect doll, a perfect puppet for him to control.

But… but there was someone he couldn’t control.

Someone he had no power over.

Who had even managed to talk back to him.

“Need a hand?”

Adrien looked up.

A black suit.

Cat ears.

And that rogueish grin.

Gabriel might be able to control him, confine him, try to keep him chained to his will.

But Chat Noir couldn’t be trapped.

The voices called louder. “Obey. OBEY.  **OBEY** .”

Chat smirked. “No, I don’t think I will.”

He put his hand up to Adrien’s chains. “Cataclysm.”

They dissolved into black, crumbling at Adrien’s feet.

The voices continued screaming, calling for Adrien to obey, to come back, that he was nothing, that he was worthless.

He paid them no mind.

“Ready to go, princess?” Chat Noir asked him.

Adrien nodded.

Picking him up in a bridal carry, Chat Noir extended his staff, catapulting them both off beyond the voices, beyond the chains, beyond anywhere Gabriel could reach.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 13 - Freedom

Adrien beat his wings uncertainly. 

Chat Noir gave him a reassuring smile, his great black dragon wings keeping him aloft. “It’s okay. Your wings won’t fail you this time.”

Adrien gave a small smile back, running his fingers over his shiny golden flight feathers. “I know.”

His whole life, his father had mandated his flight feathers be clipped, that he be grounded. It wasn’t all that unusual with very small children - they could easily get hurt if they got too far off the ground and then got tired, bumped into something, or just messed up their balance somehow and fell.

But normally by the time kids started school their parents would stop clipping their wings, start teaching them to fly, or at least allowing the school to do so.

That never happened with Adrien.

Oh he was taught how to keep his wings pristine. How to hold them just so, how to make them flash in the light, how to look pretty.

But he was never allowed to USE them.

Then his father was exposed as Hawkmoth.

Lost his control over Adrien.

Lost his ability to keep Adrien grounded.

Chat Noir’s expression softened. He held out a hand. “Don’t worry. If you fall, I’ll catch you. But I don’t think you will.

You’ve been ready to fly for a long time Adrien.”

Adrien took a deep breath, looked up at Chat Noir, and nodded.

He took a step. 

And another.

Spread his wings.

And soared.


	13. Chapter 13

Adrien blinked.

Cat eyes blinked back.

Adrien had been playing quietly by himself, as always. Even at five years old, he’d never gotten to be with any other kids his age - he rarely even left the house.

Mom went off… somewhere, telling him to play nicely and quietly so as not to disturb his father.

Adrien had quietly played with his toy cars for a minute, turned around-

And the catboy was there.

He had on a fluffy, furry black onesie, though the tail and ears looked real.

“Do you want to play a game?” The catboy asked. 

A game?   
  


Adrien nodded so eagerly he was afraid his head would fall off. “YES YES YES YES!”

He paused a moment. “What’s your name?” he asked. 

The catboy waved his tail. “Chat Noir!”

Walking over to Adrien, he leaned in close-

And booped his nose.

“Tag, you’re it!”

Giggling, Chat Noir ran off, Adrien in hot pursuit.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“You know, you don’t ONLY have to do what Chloe wants you to do.”

Eight-year-old Adrien glanced over at Chat. “But if I don’t, she said she won’t be friends with me anymore!”

Chat bit his lip, looking down. “Yeah, but… it’s not fair.”

His ears perked up. “I’ll play with you Adrien! And we can BOTH decide what to do together!”

A grin slowly spread on Adrien’s face. “Superheroes?”

Chat nodded enthusiastically. “Do you want to be the superhero or the supervillain?”

“Let’s take turns! You can be the superhero first and I’ll be the supervillain, then we can swap! Sound good?”

Chat grinned. “No one can defeat the suave and sophisticated Chat Noir!”

* * *

  
  


Adrien sat alone in his room.

His mother had left again.

This time forever.

And in a way, he seemed to have lost his father too.

Picking up a pillow, he held it to his face.

And screamed.

“I wish I could tell you it gets better but…”

Adrien looked up at his companion. “But it doesn’t help,” he said bitterly. “It hurts NOW. And that doesn’t bring her back.”

Chat Noir nodded. “I guess, just… take care of yourself. As best you can.”

Adrien laughed, tears coming out of his eyes. “Guess I have to. Don’t have much choice now, do I?”

Chat Noir stayed with him the rest of the night, stroking his hair like his mom used to.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Adrien looked up at Chat Noir, smiling. He looked a lot better than he had a year ago, as well as more grown-up in general. “I didn’t expect to see you again.”

Chat flicked his ears. “I wasn’t just going to leave you suddenly, without warning.”

Adrien nodded, taking on a more somber expression. “Right.”

Adrien’s phone buzzed. Chat glanced at it.

“Ah, so Nino wants to set up a get-together?”

“If Father allows it,” Adrien said.

Chat smirked. “But he’s gone right now, and you know a few ways of sneaking out, don’t you? We certainly enough hiding spots, practiced enough sneaking around when we were younger.”

“Yeah…” Adrien gazed off into the distance, before snapping his attention back to Chat. “And you?”

Chat chuckled. “You know where I’ll be. Where I always am. But you don’t need me anymore, do you? You have friends now, people you can rely on.”

Adrien nodded. “Goodbye, Chat Noir.”

And Chat Noir was gone.

Of course he was.

He was never there in the first place.


	14. Chapter 14

Chat Noir raced through the city, feeling the wind blowing through his hair and fake cat ears.

“Kitty?!” 

Chat glanced over at Ladybug, giving him an incredulous look. “I just felt like getting out of there for a bit, going on a run.”

She slowly smiled as she processed his statement.

He could see why. He hadn’t actually transformed since Gabriel was taken away.

It just… he couldn’t think about that. About Hawkmoth.

About his own akumatization.

And the destroyed world he’d woken up to.

Not that he blamed himself exactly? It was kind of weird. 

He knew that it wasn’t his fault what happened. Nor was it due to being Chat. And he had no problem with who he was as Chat Noir - he LIKED the superheroic feats, the type of role he got to play. (Maybe a little too much, considering, you know, he was writing Adrichat ficlets).

It just… was a little too much.

But now that he’d gotten used to the idea, worked through it a bit, and actually transformed?

He wished he’d have done this sooner.

The strength, the joy, the pure sense of freedom he got as Chat… all of it was still there.

Maybe… maybe that was why he’d been reluctant to transform earlier. Afraid his experience as Chat had been forever tainted by his father’s actions.

He’d never been so relieved to be wrong.

“You going to go comfort a certain model boy? A little kitty told me he could use some hugs~” Ladybug smirked.

He grinned. “Oh, I’m afraid that he will simply have to live without my company for another hour or so. I know, I know, it’s a tragedy. How will he ever survive without my puns, my wit, my charm?”

“And how will you live without Adrien’s soft-spoken kindness, his charm?” she stifled a giggle.

He sidled up to her, giving her his best shit-eating grin. “Oh, I don’t know - I’ve heard he can be quite sassy when he wants to be.”

“Both of you are so modest, you’d never think that you two knew how great you really were,” she told him seriously.

Well, semi-seriously. She doubled over with laughter 20 seconds later.

He joined in, getting the best laugh he’d been akumatized.

* * *

  
  


Awhile later, Chat and Ladybug returned from their impromptu patrol, practically skipping after getting to just relax and have fun.

Adrien looked at the shower. “Hey Marinette, would you mind if…?”

She followed his line of sight. And laughed. “It’s the model in you I’m guessing?”

He let out a bark of laughter, slipping into the bathroom.

Meanwhile Plagg floated around the room.

And spotted Adrien’s open computer, still held over to the Word Document with Adrien’s AdriChat ficlets.

And grinned.


	15. Chapter 15

“Oh Chat Noir!” Adrien cried out, swooning. “Your cheesy aroma, your stinky fragrance - it causes my heart to beat, my lungs to sing! Truly, nothing is more attractive.”

Chat Noir grinned. His gloves were covered in cheese, his suit drenched and stained by cheese, even his hair was styled using cream cheese.

“Only the best for you, my dear,” Chat crooned. “And nothing is better, nothing says ‘I love and care about you’ like the stinkiest, most aged cheese around. Not that I figured this out on my own. I owe all my success at romance to my kwami, who I finally listened to the advice of.”

Adrien threw his arms around Chat Noir. “We must thank him!” he yelled, crying at the thought of Chat’s kwami’s genius. “We must give him ten wheels of Camembert a day for the rest of our lives, ensure he is never deprived of the greatest food of all time!”

“I completely agree!” Chat said, purring as Adrien licked the cheese out of his hair. “And when we are wed, he shall be the ring bearer, and the ring shall be made of cheese, for nothing could be more binding, more sacred, than cheese!”

* * *

“Uhhhhh…”

Plagg looked up.

Adrien gawked at the screen, still half-naked, staring at Plagg’s story.

“What?” Plagg asked. “There’s nothing more romantic than cheese!”

Adrien raised his hand to his face and slowly massaged his temples. “Just… never mind.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 17 - Cataclysm

“It’s not your fault.”

Chat shuddered, but didn’t turn around. He knew who’d spoken anyway. “But it was my hand that did it.”

“You tried to prevent it,” Adrien reminded him. “You’ve seen the footage. You were redirecting your hand AWAY from harming anyone. And it wasn’t YOUR fault your emotions were manipulated and taken advantage of to turn you into a time bomb. That’s Hawkmoth’s - Gabriel’s - fault, NOT yours.”

“I still killed nearly everyone,” Chat said. His voice sounded as dead as he felt.

“But you tried to kill YOURSELF before you harmed everyone else. Aimed it straight up into the sky and downwards onto yourself. You did everything you could NOT to harm anyone else, would rather have died yourself, even as an akuma, even while evilized, than to cause harm to others.”

Chat just continued looking down, tail limp.

“Let me ask you this,” Adrien said softly. “If it was anyone else - if they had been in the same position you were - would you have blamed them as much as you’re blaming yourself right now?”

Chat took a deep, shuddering breath. “No. No, I wouldn’t.”

He looked back up, into the mirror. “I guess I’ll just have to continue telling myself that until I believe it.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 18 - Chat Blanc

Adrien froze.

Chat Blanc?

“Hm, what’s the proble-” Plagg cut himself off, looking at the screen. 

“You know you don’t have to go along with this?” he quietly asked, landing on Adrien’s head, doing his best to physically comfort him. “No one’s going to be mad at you for skipping one, especially… THAT one.”

Adrien drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “I want to, though. It’s… it’s an aspect of my past, of what happened that’s not going to go away just because I ignore it. Even if everything was repaired, even if things were set right afterwards… it still happened.”

Looking at the screen, he slowly started to type.

* * *

Cold.

That’s all he felt; coldness. 

Everyone else was gone.

Because of him.

The sphere of destruction he’d unleashed had demolished everyone in its path.

Everyone except himself.

He wished it was the other way around.

If only he could get Ladybug’s Miraculous and FIX everything!

“That’s not what you need,” a voice told him. “That’s not what you want.”

Chat Blanc didn’t bother turning around. “It’s the only way to repair everything. To wish it back to the way it was. And- and if I do, Ladybug will be back! We’ll be together again!”

“But the cost?”

Chat Blanc grit his teeth, punching one of the buildings to the side. It keeled over, falling into the water. “LOOK AROUND! What is there left to LOSE?!”

“If she does come back,” the voice said, “she won’t give up her Miraculous willingly. Can you really raise a hand against her?”

“I- I- Y-yes,” Chat Blanc stuttered out. “She- she just wouldn’t realize what was at stake. What was needed. I- I’d just need to get her earrings, right? I don’t have to hurt her. Just get her Miraculous. Yeah!”

“Ladybug usually has a plan. If she refuses, she probably has a better idea,” the voice reminded her.

Chat Blanc’s head pounded. He grit his teeth. “I HAVE to get her Miraculous,” he snapped. “It’s the only way to fix things.”

“The Adrien I know wouldn’t do this,” the voice said. “The Adrien I know would ask for help, not consider attacking the person closest to him.”

“Yeah, well,” Chat whipped his head around. “I’m not YOU anymore, am I?”

No one was there.

Of course not.

It was just him, alone.

As he had been for the past several months.

He curled up into a tight ball, knees drawn up to his chest. “Save me,” he whispered. He wasn’t sure where it came from or who he was pleading with, but… somehow, he felt a little warmer, a little more like himself, when he did. “Save me, please.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 19 - Photograph

Adrien stared at a gallery of photographs featuring the hottest celebrities in Paris.

His eye twitched.

Half the gallery was taken up of photos of himself.

Seriously he knew he was attractive, but this was ridiculous!

Especially since…

“Why is there only ONE photo of Chat Noir?!” he asked the artist incredulously.

She blinked. “Well I mean, he’s cute and all, but he doesn’t hold a candle to you.”

Adrien sucked in a breath. “But… but Chat’s ten times prettier than I am! His style, his grace, and those cat ears! They can MOVE. And his tail lashes from side to side and can make a heart shape and he can purr and run around on all fours when he wants to, but he doesn’t HAVE to, and his big green slitted cat eyes, and just… how can he NOT be considered the most attractive celebrity in Paris?!”

The artist blinked. “...Do you happen to know what a Furry is?” she asked slowly.

“No, why?”

_ One explanation later _

“...I’m a Furry.”


	19. Chapter 19

Adrien practiced the piece his father had given him.

He HAD to get it right. If he didn’t… well, last time he made a mistake while playing, his father had barred him from seeing his friends that day, even after promising he could go. He didn’t want to give him ANY excuses to stop him from seeing his friends. If he thinks they’re a ‘bad influence’...

But this piece just… it was fine he guessed. Created by a great long-dead composer, it had a great reputation in high society and was sure to impress a lot of famous business people with its somber tones.

It wasn’t what he wanted to play.

*knock knock*

He looked up.

And nearly fell out of his seat.

A leather-clad cat boy grinned back at him from the window.

Hurriedly Adrien opened it, letting Chat Noir slip inside.

“So, what’s up with my favorite model?” Chat purred.

Adrien gave a small laugh, booping Chat on the nose. It was hard to stay down around the cat-themed superhero. “Father wants me to perfect this piece of music for him, and you know what HE’S like - if I get it wrong-”

Chat made a face. “Then Mr Stick-Up-His-Butt will punish you. UGH.”

Adrien nodded. “And I keep practicing and practicing, but it just doesn’t click!”

“Hmm…” Chat sat down on the piano bench. “Maybe you just need a little break. Create some music that’s a bit more your speed.”

He looked over at Adrien, giving him his widest grin. “I think I have the perfect song. Want to do some Karaoke?”

“Karaoke…?”

Chat began to play.

It took Adrien a minute to recognize the beat, but when he did…

Oh.

OH.

Of COURSE Chat would know this song.

And luckily, Adrien had memorized the lyrics!

(Which Chat had probably just assumed. How could Adrien NOT know all the words to this song?)

_ “Everybody wants to be a cat”  _ he sang, swaying to the music.  _ Because a cat’s the only cat, who knows where it’s at. _

_ “Tell me, everybody's pickin' up on that feline beat”  _ Chat picked up on his part. _ “‘Cause everything else is obsolete.  _

_ “A square with a horn makes you wish you weren’t born,” _

_ “Everytime he plays,”  _ Adrien finished.

_ “But with a square in the act, you can set music back _ ,” Chat continued.

“ _ To the cave man days, cha cha ba dum bo day _ ,” Adrien could barely contain his laughter. The lyrics to this song were half crooning about how great it was to be a cat, and half nonsensical.

And he was loving ALL of it!

They continued the rest of the song, trading off singing the parts.

By the time it ended Adrien’s heart pounded. This… this is what playing music should be like. Fun. Exhilarating. And shared with the people you care about.


	20. Chapter 20

Adrien bit his lip, blushing as he took in video of Chat Noir’s latest exploit. 

The way he’d effortlessly dodged the akuma’s attacks, doing front flips and back flips and flips that went to the side (he wasn’t totally sure whether those were intentional or not, but they LOOKED cool to him at least), how he seamlessly wove puns into the combat, making it look effortless and fun, how he comforted the victims afterwards, especially children, making sure they knew no one was angry, that he’d help them and was happy to meet him, he just… he was one of the most amazing people he’d ever seen.

Also he made cat ears and a tail look GOOD. (Admittedly that wasn’t a hard thing to do.)

He’d met up with Chat a few times of course - who hadn’t? But they’d been fleeting glimpses. If he was lucky, Chat would carry him out of danger, with him being able to relax in his strong, secure arms as Chat reassured him that he and Ladybug would save everyone, as always.

Not that he needed the reassurance. He trusted Chat completely.

He wanted Chat to know how much he loved him. How much he appreciated him.

And maybe get a date, if all went well? 

But first he needed to get Chat Noir to appear.

Picking up his phone, he dialed Alya’s number. “Hey, could you help me with something?”

* * *

  
  


Adrien sat nervously while Juleka applied his face paint. “Thanks for this. I don’t know what I’d have done without your-” he glanced at Alya, Nino, and Marinette. “Without EVERYONE’S help.”

Marinette’s mouth twitched. “It was an unusual request, but I’m sure you can make it work,” she said. 

“Is- is it done?” he asked hopefully. This was the kind of thing he’d been dreaming about, had longed for in the deep recesses of his mind for years. He was CERTAIN that Chat Noir would love it too.

“Just finished it up a few hours ago,” she said proudly, holding the outfit up for him to examine. 

He grinned, feeling the details on the outfit. “This… this is AMAZING Marinette!” He gave her a wink. “Not that I expected any differently, coming from you.”

“It- it was nothing,” she told him, her voice rising an octave. 

His eyes softened. Marinette never seemed to understand how amazing she really was - which was why he would keep reminding her. “It was NOT nothing. Not many people could make something as fine as you did. It looks like it’s ready for a broadway show!”

She giggled. “Ye-yeah, I- I mean, thanks, you do too,” Her eyes widened. “I- I MEAN-”

He laughed. “Hopefully you’re right. And if I do, it’s thanks to you.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, relaxing a bit.

“Nino and I have all the decorations and lights set up,” Alya told him, grinning. “Our art teacher was all for it! Said he was proud of your inventiveness.”

“Hopefully Chat Noir will be just as impressed,” Adrien said nervously.

Nino laughed. “Dude, I don’t think you have to worry about that. Just a feeling.”

“You got Chat Noir to agree to come?” he asked Alya.

She nodded. “He thinks it’s just for an interview. He won’t know what hit him!”

* * *

Chat Noir looked around curiously. Alya’s expression when she asked him to show up for an interview, with the smirk she was obviously trying (and failing) to hide wasn’t exactly subtle. Something was up.

Well, you know what they say: Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back!

The corridors leading up to the art room were dimly lit. Not a problem for him of course, but he wondered what they were playing at.

And then he entered the art room.

The spotlight turned on. 

Chat sucked in a breath.

A boy sat on a stool, giving him the best ‘come hither’ look he could muster.

But he didn’t look like any ordinary boy - oh no.

He was dressed in the most exquisite fursuit he’d ever seen, a ruff around his collar, tasteful patterns on the side, cat ears done up in his hair, and his hair itself floofed to look like it belonged with the rest of his ensemble. Whiskers, makeup, and face paint completed the look.

Chat tried to speak. “ _ Hnnnnngh _ !”

More of a strangled cry, but whatever. It got his point across.

“Chat Noir,” the cat boy purred to him, sauntering across the stage. “Would you go on a date with me? I purromise I’m quite a cat-ch.”

“HWFUAHFOA”

Chat Noir cleared his throat. “Of- of course,” he said. Oh man, could he see how hard Chat was blushing right now? He had to be beet red. “This- how-?”

Adrien laughed. “I’ve always enjoyed Cats: The Musical, and I thought you probably did too.”

Chat Noir nodded vigorously.

“As for how- I’ve got a lot of great, very talented friends.”

Considering what he knew of the class? “That’s an understatement,” he grinned. “Remind me to thank them later.”

“Later?” Adrien tilted his head to the side. 

“I think for now, I’d rather it was just you and me,” Chat Noir purred.

He enjoyed getting to see Adrien’s cheeks turn bright red.


	21. Chapter 21

“Try again.”

Adrien bit back a retort. He’d BEEN trying for the past half hour, it wasn’t working!

The rest of his class had managed to summon familiars already, creatures with human-level intelligence and the power of speech to help them perform spells. Sometimes the mage summoned the familiar, sometimes the familiar summoned the mage - it usually depended on how advanced either the mage or the familiar were.

Familiars had a better innate grasp of magic, but had trouble unlocking their full potential… unless linked to a mage. The mage helped the familiar to access magical schools that normally they’d be unable to control, while the familiar could guide the mage’s own magic more easily, what with the familiar’s better innate grasp of how to use it.

It was not technically REQUIRED that familiars and mages partner up in order to be able to cast the more difficult spells - familiars could grow accustomed enough to the magic pathways that bonding with a mage opened up to be able to unlock them on their own, and similarly, mages could gain enough experience and aptitude with spellcasting to no longer require the familiar’s help in shaping the spell.

But it was still a boon to partner up early on to get a feel for it, plus… well, most familiars and mages just ended up really enjoying each other’s company. 

Looking at the happy bonded pairs of his classmates, Adrien let out a frustrated sigh.

Ivan cooed over a tiny little mouse while Nino happily stroked a wagging red fox. The rest of his class were out, having previously found their familiars (some of the familiars had summoned THEM previously).

“Don’t be discouraged,” the instructor told him warmly. “It took me an hour to summon Regina here the first thing.” He gave the albino ferret a scritch on her chin.

Regina hopped down, fixing Adrien with a stare. “Some energies are more difficult to connect to than others,” she told him. “Take myself, for example; my type of magic is more chaotic, more mischievous. That makes it harder to lock onto. Just make sure to look inside, reach deep down into your well of mana, feel out what type of energy it is, and try to bring it out.”

Closing his eyes, he gave it another try. 

Slowly, he became aware of the electric feeling of magic, of energy, coursing through his body. 

Slippery, unwilling to hold still, desiring to move and be free.

And yet…

Not to wander out. Not to escape. Merely to be able to move around freely, but with somewhere warm to return to. Not wanting to cause harm, but just enough chaos to shake things up, to give the potential for things to improve.

His fingers tingled with power.

Hovering his hands over the floor, he allowed the energy to escape - but without forcing it out. Letting the magic have the freedom to choose where to go and what to do, while merely asking it, requesting it to do what he wished.

“You’re my mage, I’m guessing?”

Adrien opened his eyes. In front of him sat a black cat with green eyes, flicking his tail excitedly.

He nodded, grinning ear to ear.

Right away he felt a kinship with this creature, with his familiar - no wonder though. They shared the same energy. 

“I’m Chat Noir,” the cat said, pushing his way through Adrien’s arms and into his lap, where he promptly collapsed, purring. “And I have a feeling this will be the start of a beautiful relationship.”

Adrien couldn’t agree more.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 23 - Shatter

Adrien breathed raggedly, curled up in a tight ball.

Everything he thought he knew had shattered.

His father - a supervillain.

His mother - alive, but in a coma.

His father’s assistant, the woman he’d thought, he’d hoped, may become his stepmother - an accomplice.

The only member of his household - at this point he wasn’t sure “family” was the right word - who he hadn’t had some major revelation about was Gorilla.

Not that it was only more recent times that he’d had to reconsider.

His father’s “protectiveness” suddenly seemed a lot less like an effort to ensure his safety and a lot more like a method of control. His willingness to prevent Adrien from taking part in activities with his friends, his lashing out whenever Adrien questioned him or showed emotions - those weren’t signs of simply a grieving husband, but of an abusive father.

Adrien lifted his head.

But there were some things he hadn’t been able to control. Some ASPECTS of himself his father couldn’t tame.

Chat Noir.

Chat Noir got to be funny, awkward, a clown at times. He could get mad or frustrated, even a little mean and unfair. He could be free! Have friends! Be respected for something he was proud of, rather than something he was forced to do! And he didn’t have to worry about being punished if he did something wrong. While there was someone he looked up to, someone he cared about a lot and who he relied on the opinion of, Ladybug didn’t just dictate to him - she listened to him as well. It was a two-way relationship, one based on mutual trust and affection built up with time and experience - unlike with his father, which simply relied on the idea that Gabriel WAS his father, that they shared that blood and legal relationship, rather than because it was earned.

Chat Noir got to be everything he had to hide, got to have what Adrien craved.

...he was actually a little jealous of himself.

But grateful that one side of him hadn’t had his world upended as much.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 24 - Healing
> 
> So this one's gonna be a multiparter! I thought Tangled fit well.

Adrien looked out the window of his tower and sighed. “What am I supposed to DO, Plagg?” he asked. “I’ve played piano for hours, studied all those language books Father brought, practiced fencing as best I could without Father as my partner, brushed my hair,” he grimaced, “you know how long THAT takes, and even wrote down a hundred different pun ideas! Not that Father ever appreciates them, but still…”

Plagg meowed before going back to licking his paw.

“At least you don’t seem to care about being cooped up,” Adrien said, giving the cat a fond smile. “Then again, it’s not like you’ve ever been outside either.”

Technically he could leave. He knew how; just let down his hair, using it as a sort of pulley. His father came up that way a lot.

Father always warned him against leaving. Said that all manner of criminals would kidnap him, hurt him, steal his hair.

Now for most people, having their hair stolen might be a major psychological blow, but that was it. It grew back.

For Adrien it was different.

He touched the short brown strand of his hair - the only part of it that wasn’t long and blond.

When he was a baby, some foul would-be thief had attempted to cut it off, trying to steal its power for his own.

But it didn’t work. It simply left his hair powerless. Useless. 

And if they found out their efforts were all in vain, if they decided to take it out on him…

He shuddered.

Father had only gone into detail about what those people would do to him a few times.

A few times was enough.

*thud*

Adrien looked up, startled. 

Father had said he’d be gone for a few days…

Heading to the kitchen, he grabbed a frying pan.

Father didn’t always do what he said he would, but… this still seemed out of place. 

Muttering filtered down from the room above. “Why is there a tower here? With no door? I don’t understand.”

Well.

He didn’t SOUND like someone dangerous.

Slowly Adrien peeked around the corner, drawing in a gasp.

A young teen, appearing about the same age as him, 14, looked around the room. He was dressed a bit oddly with his leather cat ears, full-length black leather bodysuit, and belt tail, but Adrien didn’t mind in the least. In fact…

The boy’s cat ears flapped. He turned, looking directly at Adrien.

Why… why did he feel warm all of a sudden? 

His heart beat rapidly, his breathing increasing to match. 

Was… was this fear? It felt kinda similar but- but weirdly good? Fear had never made him want to get closer to the person or thing he was afraid of though. Never made him want to enter the room, to greet the person, to meet their eyes, to hear them talk to hi-

“I’m- I’m sorry for intruding,” the boy told Adrien.

Adrien blinked.

Played back the last few seconds.

OH HELL HE’D DONE THE THINGS HE WAS THINKING ABOUT. HE HADN’T MEANT TO DO THAT.

“You’re cute!”

MOUTH. STOP.

The cat boy blinked. His eyes looked like Plagg’s, like a cat’s. His cheeks reddened. Maybe he was feeling the same thing Adrien was? “Thanks,” he said awkwardly for a moment before rallying. “Of course I’m not just cute, I’m the coolest, suavest, most amazing gentlecat in the kingdom, the one and only Chat Noir!” he proclaimed, before approaching Adrien, bending over in a half-bow and kissing his hand.

HE WAS GOING TO EXPLODE INTO FLAMES, BUT HE WOULD DIE HAPPY.

“I- I’m Adrien,” he stuttered out, attempting to function. He’d made words come out, so he assumed he was doing okay.

“Pleased to meet you, Adrien,” Chat Noir said. He clasped his hands together (claws! His gloves had claws!). “Like I said, I’m really, really sorry for barging in like this. I really needed to lay low for a minute, and this was the best place I could find.”

Adrien blinked. “How did you even get UP here?!”

Chat Noir grinned, pulling out a black rod. “See this?” 

He clicked a button. It extended out from being about a foot long, to nearly being as tall as Chat himself. “It can go longer too,” Chat explained while Adrien gaped like a fish. “But unless you want me punching a hole in the ceiling, I figure I’d better not show off exactly how far.”

A grin slowly spread across Adrien’s face, excitement slowly building. “Can- can you show me more later,” he asked, trying not to sound too eager and completely failing.

Chat looked startled for a moment, then gave a smile and a nod. “Of course!” He nearly skipped over to Adrien, his excitement having been infectious… and winced.

Adrien frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Chat’s smile grew pained. “See, this is part of why I came here for shelter in the first place. I twisted my ankle and needed somewhere to rest it and hopefully make a brace or splint for it.

“You won’t need that,” Adrien told him.

Father had always said to keep his magical powers secret, but… if he didn’t know, he couldn't be angry, right? Besides, he highly doubted this boy was going to hurt him.

Retrieving some of his hair, he wrapped it around Chat’s hurt ankle. “Now this might be surprising, but it shouldn’t hurt and you’ll be healed afterwards,” Adrien told him.

Chat Noir blinked, but allowed him to continue.

Adrien sang.

_ Flower, gleam and glow _

_ Let your power shine _

_ Make the clock reverse _

_ Bring back what once was mine _

_ Heal what has been hurt _

_ Change the Fates' design _

_ Save what has been lost _

_ Bring back what once was mine _

_ What once was mine _

Chat Noir let out a strangled gasp as the glow slowly traveled down Adrien’s hair until it reached Chat’s leg. 

After the song finished, Adrien unwrapped his hair from Chat’s ankle. “Try it out.”

Chat Noir stood and walked around for a moment, before looking back at Adrien. “You’re amazing,” he breathed.

Oh.

OH.

_ He wanted to hear Chat Noir talk to him in that voice again. _

“It’s just something I was born with,” he said, looking down. His voice grew somber. “Bad people tried to cut it off once, tried to steal it. But when it’s cut…” he fingered the brown strand. “It becomes powerless. Father’s kept me here for fourteen years, safe, where outsiders can’t hurt me. 

Chat Noir frowned. “But how do you go out? I didn’t see a door.”

Adrien shook his head. “I don’t. Ever.”

Chat’s face screwed up as he muttered some choice words that Adrien couldn’t quite catch. After a moment, Chat looked up. “Would you like to explore the outside world for a bit? It can be dangerous, that’s true, but… being alone, staying locked up inside, has its own dangers. And I’ll be there to show you around.”

“I- I’m not supposed to, but-”

But Father would be gone for awhile.

And things didn’t seem quite as dangerous with Chat Noir by his side.

(Plus he was super cute and kind and he didn’t know whether he could just let him go without knowing when he’d see the cat boy again.”

“Okay!” he told Chat Noir. “I need to be back within three days, but… there’s nothing I’d like more than to spend that time with you.”

Chat Noir reddened again. “Of- of course. Sure! You’ll have the best three day vacation of your life!”


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 25 - First Date

Adrien felt the grass between his toes and had to stop himself from giggling. 

It’d been a few hours since he and Chat Noir had departed from the tower, but the sensation of dirt, grass, rocks, just… things besides hardwood floors underneath his feet still felt like a dream.

Chat Noir looked over at him with that- that soft expression he’d never seen before. His father never looked at him like that, he never felt this warmth, this love, this affection from him. 

But Chat… Chat seemed to enjoy watching him have fun. Enjoy seeing him laugh.

“Want to try something out?”

Adrien shot up. “YES.”

Chat Noir pointed at the treetops. “You see those branches up there, how they follow one after another, almost like a horizontal ladder?”

Adrien squinted, but at last saw what Chat was talking about. “Hmm… they look a lot like the pole I used to get father up and down from the tower… but if there are multiple ones close to each other…”

Ooooh. 

Adrien started cackling, his mischievous grin mirrored on Chat Noir’s face. He took a length of his hair - but not all of it - and ran, jumping upwards and throwing out a second length of hair to snag the next one, the previous hair length coming undone from the branch. He promptly threw it out, catching on the next branch, alternating hair-ropes to traverse the woods, until finally having both hair-ropes let go and rolling to a stop in front of Chat Noir.

That look on Chat Noir’s face… the wide eyes, the grin, the joy… was that awe?

He’d- he’d never had someone actually be IMPRESSED by anything he’d done! At best Father would say he’d done adequately! 

Winking at Chat Noir, he held out a hand. “Want a ride?”

The sound Chat Noir made rested somewhere between a squeal, laugh, and a hiccup. He took Adrien’s hand, draping his arms around Adrien’s shoulders, melding with him, being closer to Adrien than anyone else had been in his 14 years of life. 

It was Adrien’s turn to make his own squeal-hiccupping noise.

With a throw of the hair they were off, soaring through the air, together and free, Chat Noir’s purring sending his own body rumbling.

“You’re amazing,” Chat Noir told him.

A warmth spread through Adrien’s chest. “It’s thanks to you I’m out here. You encouraged me to do this. I- I was scared. But you- you made me feel brave. Braver than I’ve ever been before.”

“It was always inside you. That bravery, this daring - it’s all you,” Chat Noir told him. “I’m just honored I’ve gotten to share this with you.”

Adrien’s face warmed. “Me too.”

Chat Noir showed him freedom, gave him companionship - he was glad to be able to do the same, to give Chat Noir the freedom of the sky, of moving rapidly through the air. 

Judging by Chat’s happy purrs and mewing, he felt the same way.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 26 - Kiss

“The lights… they’re so much more impressive up close!” 

Chat Noir smiled, taking Adrien’s hands in his. “Fifteen years ago today, someone kidnapped the King and Queen’s baby boy, the new light of the kingdom. The perpetrator was never found, but ever since, the kingdom throws a festival to release lanterns into the air in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, he’ll see it. That it would give him some solace, some joy, wherever he is. Whether that’s smiling down from the heavens or whether he’s still here on earth.”

Fifteen years today huh? The prince would be about his age now. Not that Adrien was entirely sure of how old he was - he had to piece it together from off-hand comments Father had made about his age, but he’d narrowed it down to somewhere around now, give or take a couple weeks. “I hope he’s doing well, wherever he is,” Adrien said, staring at the reflected light of the lamps glistening in Chat Noir’s eyes.

Chat Noir smiled at him. “Hopefully he’d be happy to know that this tribute has brought such joy to so many people. I- I always loved watching the lamps be released, growing up. It was one of the activities the entire orphanage pitched in on, everyone making their own lantern, the older kids helping the younger ones. Everyone turned out to watch the lights and wish the prince a happy birthday.”

“Why aren’t you with them now?” Adrien asked curiously. 

Chat Noir winced. “We’ve… we’ve been running low on money at the Orphanage lately. It’s not dire yet, but… well. We’ve been holding fundraisers. Many of the older kids have been taking on what jobs they can, but they don’t have a ton of experience and it’s hard to get something that pays well. And I’m too young to be considered for even those. I’ve babysat in the past, I’m good at it and I like it, but… well, it doesn’t exactly break the bank.”

He closed up his eyes, his face screwing up, afraid to see Adrien’s reaction. “So I- I moved to petty theft. Not from people who couldn’t afford it!” Chat Noir added hastily, seeing Adrien’s eyes widen. “Just from the rich. And that helped, for a bit. But it still wasn’t enough.”

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he continued. “There was this one man. Everyone quieted down when he entered the room. He- he asked for the prince’s ring. The one that denotes them as being heir to the throne. It’s said that it has magic powers, but only for those with Royal bloodline. I dunno why he wanted it, but… well, he put up a LOT of money, enough to take care of the orphanage for a year.

So I- I stole it.”

Adrien blinked. “You WHAT?!”

Chat refused to meet his eyes. “The palace’s security is surprisingly lax, and between my experience and my staff,” he gestured beside him at the staff, in compressed form currently, “I was able to steal it, but I didn’t manage to get away without discovery. That’s why I was so eager to climb the tower. To escape from them.”

Chat was a thief? For a good cause but-

“If it’s magic… are you sure delivering it to that guy’s a good idea?”

Chat bit his lip. “No, but- but I don’t know what else to do! And- and I already told him I’d get it. He would’ve heard about my heist by now. It wasn’t exactly subtle. So he’ll be onto me as well.”

Adrien frowned. “What were you planning to do after delivering the ring? It doesn’t sound like the palace guards will leave you alone afterwards.”

“I wasn’t planning on sticking around. I’d do some more jobs, get some more money, try to send more back to the Orphanage. Live life on the run.”

“You’re just a kid though. Do you really want to do that to yourself…?” Adrien asked softly.

Chat’s hands clenched. “I’ve already done it. It’s too late now. What, I just go back to both that man and the Palace and say ‘Oops, my bad, hey, could you maybe leave me alone and throw in some money for the Orphanage while you’re at it?”

“Maybe?”

Chat laughed wryly. “Maybe if you did it.” He gave Adrien a wink. “You have a way of persuading people to change their objectives after all.”

“Do you really think that would work?” Adrien asked. 

At Adrien’s hopeful expression, Chat shook his head vigorously. “No. Oh no. Don’t you try it. I don’t want you getting in trouble for me. This is MY problem, and I’ll be the one to fix it.”

“How?”

Chat hesitated. “I- I’ll think of something. I’m- I’m a minor. The King and Queen are known for being kind and fair. Maybe- maybe if I could talk to them, could explain, they’d pardon me, at least if I gave the ring back. I’d need to avoid being caught by the Royal Guard though,” Chat grimaced. “They’re not as lenient.”

Adrien blinked. “You have the ring with you?”

He hadn’t seen it in all this time. 

“Yeah. It’s small, thankfully, easy to hide and transport,” Chat explained. 

“Can I see it?”

Chat motioned towards one of his pockets… then hesitated, looking at him suspiciously. “Wait… you’re gonna try to give it back in my place aren’t you?”

“No…”

He didn’t look convinced. “I stole it. I’ll be the one to return it. I don’t want to drag you into this more than I have already.”

Adrien frowned. “Do you have a plan.”

Chat grinned, but Adrien could see the nervousness in his eyes. “What would be the fun in that?”

As Adrien continued staring at him, Chat elaborated. “I’m best at improvisation. I do have SOME idea how I can break into see them - I managed to break in to steal the ring after all. I’ll adjust on the fly.”

He smirked at Adrien. “I could use a kiss for good luck though.”

Adrien laughed, happily obliging.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 27 - Ring

Adrien clutched Chat Noir to his chest. “No! No, Chat Noir, you can’t leave me. Please! I- I-”

“I warned you about bad influences,” Gabriel said, glaring down at them impassively. “I warned you how they would lead to bad things happening. Now look what you did. If you’d left him, if you’d stayed put, this wouldn’t have happened. 

But now, because of you, he’ll die.”

Adrien glared up at him. At  _ that man _ . The one he used to call ‘Father’.

It was an undeserved title. He was NOT Adrien’s father, either by birth or deed.

“YOU stabbed him,” Adrien growled, barely containing his rage. “YOU hurt him. YOU were always the bad influence, the bad guy, the one I needed to be afraid of; not the outside world!”

Gabriel’s eyes hardened. “It seems you’ve forgotten who you’re dealing with. What your place is.”

Gently, Adrien set Chat on the floor. 

Chat groaned. Adrien winced. “Don’t worry. It’ll be okay. Just- just hold on until this is over.”

Gabriel scoffed. “Hoping he’ll survive without intervention? Well… maybe. But it won’t matter either way. You’re never going to see him again.”

“Yes, I WILL.” Adrien stood up, looking his kidnapper, his abuser, square in the eyes. “We’re going to meet my family, my TRUE family. Chat Noir will be cleared. We’ll get to be together, happy, free, and away from YOU.”

“Cease your childish delusions. You are MY son. You will obey me!” Gabriel made a grab for his arm.

Adrien dodged, slipping on the ring he’d snuck out of Chat Noir’s pocket. “I am the Prince of the Kingdom of Corona! And I am NOT your son!

Claws Out!”

A wave of light swept over him. Gabriel made a move, trying to hit him with his cane -

Only to have it deflected.

Adrien looked down.

Black leather.

Claws.

And wings.

He gave Gabriel a grin. “Want to try your luck?”

Gabriel ran.

Taking off his helmet (how his hair fit in there, he wasn’t sure; but the answer was probably ‘magic’), he wrapped his hair around Chat Noir’s torso.

For a moment, he thought it might be too late.

Until Chat Noir’s eyes slid open.

“Stealing my look, huh?” he coughed, trying to focus.

“Shhh... just rest. We can talk later.”

He recited the incantation, relaxing only once the glow had subsided, Chat Noir’s breathing evening out.

Chat Noir gave him a soft smile. “The wings suit you.”

Adrien nodded, helping Chat Noir to his feet. “Ready to catch a kidnapper?”

Chat Noir gave a vicious grin. “He won’t know what hit him.”

\-----------

And so Gabriel was thrown in prison very shortly afterwards (there are certain upsides to having the Royal Guard in hot pursuit of you; namely, that it doesn’t take long to find them when you need them), Adrien got to meet his parents Queen Arianna and King Frederic, Chat Noir was pardoned, the Orphanage was funded, and they all lived happily ever after… mostly. Life doesn’t just end, there’s always more things happening, more mysteries to uncover, and Chat Noir wasn’t quite as much of an orphan as he thought - but that’s a story for another time.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 28 - #plaggissodone

Adrien rested his hands. 

Nearly a month of Adrichat. 

It’d been fun, coming up with absurd scenarios for himself to romance… himself, but he was glad it was almost over. Thinking about how to arrange for Chat Noir to fall for Adrien and vice versa had been a fun distraction from the thoughts that’d been going around and around in his head since his father was arrested.

Not that all of them had really been distractions but… a way to get his feelings onto the page. To try to deal with them, come to terms with them. He wasn’t sure how long he’d take to truly make peace with everything he’d been through, with… basically his entire life up ‘til now, but especially once Hawkmoth made his appearance.

But he was trying.

The Tangled AU had been his crowning achievement of the series. That movie had been barred from his house - Father had talked about how it promoted bad ideas that he wouldn’t let Adrien be exposed to.

Watching the movie with Marinette a few weeks ago, he could see why he did. Mother Gothel’s behavior, her methods, hit a little too close to home.

It had cemented his desire to write for it, to do something with it.

He may not have been kidnapped like Rapunzel was, but he was still kept up in a tower, locked away from the rest of the world. Still told that everyone else was dangerous, when in fact, the greatest danger was his ‘protector’. 

But like Rapunzel, he’d broken free. He had other people, friends, family.

How could he not write himself into that world, that role? 

(Also he kinda liked the idea of having long hair. Maybe not Rapunzel-length, but longer than he had now. There was a reason his transformation into Chat Noir lengthened his hair slightly.)

With the month almost over, he still wanted to do something. One last joke. One last bit of fun.

Scrolling through various videos from Tangled, he happened upon a short that came out a little after the movie released.

One with Rapunzel in a wedding dress.

Slowly he grinned.

“Hey Plagg?” he looked over at Plagg, who was happily eating a cheese puff, as was the norm these days. “Could you change the transformation to make a dress?”

Plagg looked up. Looked over at the picture. Then at the smirk growing on Adrien’s face. “...I better get a lot of cheese for this.”


	28. Chapter 28

“So let me get this straight,” Marinette told Adrien, quirking an eyebrow. “You want to hold a wedding… for yourself.”

Adrien fidgeted. “I know it’s weird, but… I really want to do this.”

“I’m not shaming you or anything,” Marinette said gently, noticing his discomfort. “If you want to do it, we’ll do it. I’m just curious about why.”

He sat down heavily. “Father… he always demanded that my first loyalty be to himself. To something he cared about. That I was only valuable, only worthy of love when I did what he said without complaint. When I was a doll to puppet around.”

He clenched his fingers against his jeans. “But… but he was wrong. I AM allowed to value my own emotions, my own perspective, my own self.”

Looking up, he met Marinette’s eyes, trying to desperately convey what he was feeling, what he meant, just in case his words failed him. “I want to show myself - show everyone - that I’m free from him. That HE doesn’t determine whether I’m worthy of love - I do. To give myself that second chance at life, a life that he doesn’t control, can’t influence.”

Marinette nodded, taking his hands in hers. “Whatever you need, Adrien. I’ll help. I’m sure the others would be on board to, if you wanted them here.”

Adrien grinned. “I was thinking of asking Alya to be the wedding photographer and Nino to DJ. And, uh… could you maybe help with tailoring this one suit I have?” he scratched his neck. “I’ve grown a little since I last wore it.”

Marinette stifled a laugh. “I’m sure they’d love that. And of course! Just try it on so I can see the issues, and I’ll see what I can do.”

Before she left, she paused, turning back slightly. “...Gabriel isn’t the ONLY reason you want to host a wedding for yourself, is he?”

Adrien laughed. “What can I say? It’s funny!”

Marinette snorted before walking out of sight.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 30 - Wedding

Marinette still wasn’t totally sure how this had happened.

Yes she’d been the wedding planner, but she was half-convinced she was dreaming the whole time she worked to set it up. 

At first glance, it looked like a normal party. Balloons, streamers, tables with food (catered by a combination of her parents and Alya’s mom of course), even a turntable for Nino and a stage.

She didn’t know what the stage was for exactly. The wedding ceremony she guessed? Adrien had been pretty vague about why he needed it.

At least his reasons for needing the Mouse and Fox Miraculous were pretty clear. Using three Miraculous at once wasn’t generally advised, but he’d practiced while she was there to help, and it didn’t seem likely to be outright dangerous. Unlike when she’d used several Miraculous at once, he was only wearing the ones he needed, which should limit the exhaustion.

While she’d helped arrange most of it, such as setting up the tables, catering, inviting friends, etc., there were a few things Adrien had insisted on tending to himself.

Looking around, she frowned. Adrien had insisted on inviting Luka personally; so where was he?

_ *strumming noises* _

Ah, must be Luka! Different guitar than usual, but he did have… some… variety…

Her jaw dropped.

Luka strode onto the stage wearing a giant top hat, a monstrosity of a green suit, blue sunglasses, and… was that a red rose in his lapel? Well she knew what Adrien had contributed to the ensemble.

_ “How ba-a-a-ad can I be? I'm just doin' what comes naturally,” _ Lukaler belted out, playing the guitar while he sang.

_ “How ba-a-a-ad can I be? I'm just following my destiny.” _

...Marinette felt like she should’ve seen this coming. She didn’t know HOW she was supposed to see it coming, but she should have.

As Lukaler continued the song that she was sure would be playing incessantly in her head for the next month, many of her friends who had initially just stopped and stared, shrugged and started dancing instead.

Lukaler finished singing his signature song, abruptly changing it to “Here Comes the Bride”. 

Chat Noir approached the stage, wearing a modified version of his suit, turning it into a leather dress. Could’ve used some more color to it, but Plagg did what he could.

Meanwhile, Adrien approached from the other side, wearing the fitted suit Marinette had modified. Though she’d had to REfit it once they both realized that in reality, he’d still be wearing his Chat Noir suit underneath it.

Figuring out how to pull this off was a little tricky. They could’ve just had one be an illusion of course, but then they’d go POOF super easily, plus they wouldn’t really still be Adrien. 

The Mouse Miraculous solved the duplication problem, but then Adrien wouldn’t exactly look like ADRIEN, would he?

Ultimately he ended up using all three Miraculous - the Mouse so he could be in two places at once, the Black Cat so he could be Chat Noir, and the Fox to disguise that he was transformed using the Mouse as both Adrien and Chat Noir. 

“Do you, Chat Noir, take Adrien to be your husband, through good times and bad, through sickness and through health, through whatever trials and tribulations may await you, ‘til death do you part?”

“I do,” Chat Noir said, eyes trained on… wait, was Adrien seriously blushing? Maybe it was just an illusion, but… at this point, she didn’t want to know.

“And do you, Adrien, take Chat Noir to be your husband, through good times and bad, through sickness and through health, through whatever trials and tribulations may await you, ‘til death do you part?”

“I do.”

“Then I pronounce you-” Lukaler strummed his guitar, “partners for life!”

Chat Noir gently lifted Adrien up in a bridal carry, bringing him closer, the sun playing on their hair so they almost appeared to be glowing with marital bliss, until they locked in a passionate kiss.

Marinette ducked her head, trying to deal with the VERY confused emotions going on inside of her.

Lukaler launching into a song to the tune of “Biggering” about the importance of self-love and breaking free from abusive influences was NOT helping.

But…

Looking at all her friends dancing and clapping, having fun, getting together for the first time since Hawkmoth’s defeat?

Maybe “confusing” was okay.

...she still wanted to know why Luka just happened to have a Onceler outfit available at the drop of a hat though.

“STOP!”

Marinette’s head swiveled to the voice, along with the rest of the crowd.

A boy stood at the side of the stage wearing one of those Viperion costumes that’d been gaining popularity lately, complete with…

...Ok after this was over she was going to find whoever was making these rubber masks and try to find a way to make them less nightmare-inducing. She didn’t even want to know what her own mask would look like.

(Yes she did)

(It’d be great for pranking her Kitty later)

“Lukaler, Lukaler, my dude Lukaler,” Ninoperion opined (no one else said “dude” as much as he did; she’d have to talk to him about breaking that habit while in disguise, or else Alya wouldn’t be the only one to figure out his secret identity). “I have loved you from afar for so long, have counted every day that goes by without your presence, longing only to set eyes on you once more. I- I dare not to ask, for I am simply a superhero, and you? You are an icon, rising from the ashes, never able to be killed (as much as some may have tried) but simply reincarnating in a new form, but- would you marry me?”

What.

What even.

Lukaler strutted over to Ninoperion, gently cupping his chin in his hands, tilting it upwards. “I have been watching you too,” he purred, “You underestimate yourself, for I have always loved you.” He strummed a few chords on his guitar. “Let us make sweet music together!”

NOPE.

Marinette spun around, walking back home.

“Hey, where are you going?” Chat Noir shouted at her.

“TO BED. WAKE ME UP WHEN THE WORLD MAKES SENSE AGAIN!”

“Do you think we overdid it?” Adrien wondered.

Ninoperion shrugged. “Alya’s taping this, she can catch Marinette up later. In the meantime, we have a second wedding to get underway!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lukaler was invented by Penguinnomad! I dunno who started the "Luka is Nino" thing, but I decided to throw that meme in as well, because honestly, why not?


End file.
